A Call To Arms by Foster Alan Dean

Author:Foster, Alan Dean [Foster, Alan Dean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure
ISBN: 9780345375742
Google: DQFINMJlehIC
Amazon: 1857235843
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 1991-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Caldaq could not stop pacing. His nose was twitching so rapidly, Will thought as he watched the Commander, it must surely snap off the end of his snout. Pointed ears flicked rapidly, like tiny hirsute semaphores.

T’var stood nearby, scanning the night sky along with Chief-of-Study, another Hivistahm Will did not recognize, an O’o’yan attendant, and the ever-present Wais. A Lepar technician waited patiently in the base submersible just offshore.

After a while T’var strode over to stand next to Will, and the two of them studied the stars together. “There’s something you must know,” the S’van said through his translator. “It involves what occurred on the world Vasarih a number of months ago.”

Nearly a year had passed, Will reflected, since Caldaq’s ship had departed the solar system. It did not seem so very long. They had learned a great deal in that time, with Will assisting them in their work as best he could. Yes, he would be sad to see them go. His had been an experience unlike any other save perhaps that of the ten Humans now returning. He had been informed that all ten were coming back. Whatever tests and examinations the Weave had subjected them to could not have been very harsh.

“Vasarih is a contested world,” T’var was saying. “Your fellow Humans participated in that conflict.”

“What?” Will’s contemplation of the Caribbean sky was shattered.

“They accepted training and used it.”

Will stared down at the S’van. “How could your people do something like that? How could you put a bunch of unprofessional strangers, kids and old people, into a combat situation? I know the whole purpose of this was to test Human fighting potential, but…”

“Apparently,” T’var said calmly, “when the situation was explained to them they all volunteered to help. No one was ‘forced.’ Do you still understand us so little?”

“Volunteered?” Will was taken aback. “All of them?”

“Yes.”

It was instructive to observe the Human’s reaction. T’var knew well where Will Dulac stood on the matter of his people’s cooperation with the Weave. He was sympathetic. The S’van would have liked nothing better than to have been left out of the war effort, to continue their own lives in peace. But if the Amplitur were going to be pushed back, everyone was going to have to assist in the pushing, including the less than enthusiastic. That included the S’van. Did it also include Humankind? That had yet to be determined.

The masked shuttle was revealed when it had drawn near enough to occlude a number of stars. It settled gently into the shallow water of the lagoon alongside the submerged base and Will’s dimly lit catamaran. Light appeared in its flank above an extruded ramp. Figures began to emerge, walking toward the little island on which the greeting party waited anxiously.

Caldaq stopped pacing and waited at the base of the ramp. It was difficult to discern individuals in the dim moonlight, but at least two were Massood. One was Jaruselka.

Their intense reunion was marked by intriguing digital and verbal byplay, but Will hardly noticed.

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